They Say It's My Birthday... // Last of My Roaring 20's

I feel like it was just yesterday, that I was living in San Francisco, celebrating my 21st birthday and now 8 years later, my little brother who is 21, just returned from a trip to Africa, where he was working in refuge camps, my sister, who is 25 just moved out on her own, and I, now 29, could not be in a more different place.

My 20's have been amazing!

I moved out on my own, right out the gate, to San Francisco, fell in love with God again, through attending the most amazing church.

I've worked my butt off, in the fashion/retail industry for over 12 years, from a visual merchandiser at Macy's to now a Director at a top fashion company, running the visual and training program for US Wholesale, Mexico, and Travel Retail.

Moved from San Francisco to Brooklyn, NY- to an apartment, sight unseen, and thrived for over 7 years now. I have even been referred to as a "new yorker" a time or two ;)

I went through a few terrible relationships, only to now be able to appreciate the amazing one I have. Speaking of which, I got to this place, by stepping out of my comfort zone, joining match.com, and ended up meeting the love of my life because of it.

I became a God mother to not one but two amazing little ones.

I reluctantly moved out of Brooklyn, to start a new chapter in my life, with my boyfriend, in our dream apartment, in LIC (Long Island City, Queens) #lovenestinthesky and I couldn't imaging living anywhere else at the moment.

I went from experiencing my first trip out of California, at the age of 20, to now having traveled all over the US, Canada, Mexico, Amsterdam, Germany, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, and will be heading to Paris and London next week.

And the MOST exciting part...

is that I still have one year left to make my "roaring 20's" even more special!

I have never been one of those girls, afraid to get older. I actually welcome it. Always being the youngest of my friends growing up, being older was what I strived for. It meant you were cooler, smarter, and all around more amazing.

So each year, I welcome with open arms. 30 is something I have looked forward to for a while now and I can't wait for that day to come, but over the years I have also realized it's best not to rush life, because life does a pretty good job rushing along all on its own.

My biggest challenge the past couple of years, has been to try to slow down, and enjoy the moment, and I'm still working on it.But I can tell you one thing, I could think of no better place in my life to be, than where I am right now. I'm heading in the last year of my 20's, feeling accomplished, excited, and ready to take on the world. This is only the beginning...

ps. So I have to share with you the reason behind the first half of the title for this post "They Say It's Your Birthday" and the balloons, besides obvious reasons. Well the story goes like this... It started in 5th grade, I had just switched schools and didn't have a whole lot of friends. My mom showed up at the end of class, standing outside the door, with a dozen balloons, and a crowd of people (that I didn't know). When I walked out of the classroom, the entire crowd started singing "Birthday", by The Beatles... at the time, I had never heard the song before, but ever since then, it has become a family tradition to sing it loud and proud, as a well to celebrate, and let's be honest, embarrass the birthday boy/girl, on their special day, in a loving/fun way of course.